NASA has confirmed that Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams and American astronaut Butch Wilmore, who have spent close to nine months floating in space, are scheduled to be back on Earth shortly. They will start their journey back in a matter of hours and land at 5:57 PM (US time) on Tuesday.
Crew Dragon's Docking Successfully
The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, which embarked to bring back Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, docked safely with the International Space Station (ISS) in Earth orbit on Sunday. The four astronauts of the Crew-10 mission boarded the space station individually, paving the way for Sunita and Wilmore's return. NASA provided this update and details of the return schedule.
Crew Dragon Return Schedule
The scheduled timeline of the return procedure of the Crew Dragon spacecraft is as follows:
- Hatch Close Process: Resumes at 10:45 PM (local time) on Monday.
- Undocking Process: Begins at 12:45 AM on Monday.
- Return on Earth: On detaching itself from the space station, the spacecraft will experience Earth's return to atmosphere at 4:45 PM on Tuesday.
- Crossing of orbit: Anticipated at 5:11 PM.
- Ocean Landing: The SpaceX capsule will safely land in the ocean off the coast of Florida at 5:57 PM.
After landing, NASA said astronauts will be safely removed from the capsule individually.
Background on the Mission
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, along with two other astronauts, have endured a longer-than-expected stay in space because of unforeseen technical problems. They initially journeyed to the ISS on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, which launched on June 5, 2024. Although they were to return in a week, technical issues with the Starliner hindered their safe return. The spacecraft was thus forced to return to Earth without the astronauts, stranding Sunita and Wilmore on the ISS for longer.
Their safe return is now imminent, bringing to an end their extended stay in space.
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